Thursday, January 30, 2014

CMDO 89.5 FM: Powering Vancouver Island since 2011

CMDO 89.5 FM: Powering Vancouver Island since 2011

By Konomi FujimiyaThe Daily MagiNovember 1, 2061

Mitakihara University's campus radio station is also one of the most listened to stations on Vancouver Island and the world. With the wings of the Madoka Union building forming its transmitters, CMDO 89.5 FM, The Blossom, has been broadcasting events related to Mitakihara U to the world. CMDO's primary market is Mitakihara and its districts of Parksville, Lantzville and Nanaimo, and is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association. A variety of programs are broadcast: from guest lectures, to weekly talk shows, to music and drama programmes, and of course, sporting events featuring its internationally renowned teams, including, you guessed it, the football team.

CMDO 89.5 has always been the students' voice for Mitakihara University Football. Ever since the Magi won their first national championship in the 2011 season, The Blossom has dedicated a number of programs around Magi Football, including Live with Coach Kaname (a call-the-coach show), Magi Countdown (pregame show), Magi Postgame (postgame show), and On The Trail (behind the scenes show).

The success of those programs allowed more sports programming for a number of other weekly shows related to Mitakihara Athletics teams, including basketball, ice hockey, baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball. The proliferation of the Internet has allowed Mitakihara to expand its sports programming further, while also accomidating its other programmes. The superior quality of online programmes from CMDO garned it a Webby Award in 2020.

Dean Bailey, a graduate of the Mitakihara Class of 2025, is the advisor to CMDO 89.5 FM and a full-time staff member of the University. A communications major from Stratford, Ont., Bailey earned his Master's from McGill and a Doctorate's from Laurier and advises the wing of the MadokASI Student Government that is in charge of the radio station. CMDO is student-owned and operated but according to university statutes, all student-owned and operated entities must have an advisor who is a full-time University staff member to help administer day-to-day operations.

"When I decided to return to my alma mater to be the advisor to this radio station, I didn't realize just how significant this was going to be," Bailey said. "You're talking about a station that is listened to by the City of the Future. All the major networks do cover Mitakihara Football, yes. All the major TV networks. But not the radio. Once CBC decided to end their agreement with the university, the radio broadcasts from CBC of Madoka athletics ended.

"So where were they going to turn to? Us, of course! We had been covering the teams as well as delivering our own programmes since the university was founded and we were broadcasting from the Kajiura College of Fine Arts. When we moved to the Madoka Union and had our transmitters installed on the wings of the now Madokami building, everything changed. We could now reach out to a wider audience, a bigger audience, and now we are the largest campus radio station in the province and one of the largest in Canada.

"Many of our former employees who worked here at CMDO have gone on to illustrious careers in the world of broadcasting. We have produced 100 news anchors, 60 sports analysts, 75 talk show hosts, 57 color commentators, and 48 sideline reporters. A lucky few are even on the Hockey Night in Canada team, so that's a big feather in our cap.

"While it's good that we look at our past and see how we've grown over the years, I think CMDO needs to continue to aim for bigger and better goals in the future. Our team is on the lookout for new ways to offer its programming and continuous donations to the radio station have been flowing in from all over the world. It's a very gratifying reality and for the next 50 years or more, we intend to keep that going."

No comments:

Post a Comment

This Is Magi Football.

This is an EA Sports College Football/Puella Magi Madoka Magica Dynasty Fanfic Crossover. Originally posted on Utopia College Sports, this dynasty is also here on Blogger. For more info on this dynasty, click here.